The present invention relates to an album page. In particular, the present invention relates to an album page for mounting substantially planar articles, such as photographs, on the album page mechanically and without the use of adhesives.
Albums for the display of planar articles, such as photographs, recipe cards, greeting cards, and the like, typically utilize a construction such as a book or a loose-leaf binder with pages on which the planar articles are mounted by various means. A wide variety of pages used to support and display the planar articles are known in the art. These pages use various means to mount the planar articles to the page, such as adhesives, individually applied corner mounts, integrated pockets in which to insert the planar articles, and so on.
For album pages on which an adhesive is used to mount the planar articles on a page, an adhesive substance is typically applied to completely coat a paper or cardboard sheet. When a photograph is placed on the page covered in the adhesive substance, the adhesive substance retains the photographs on the page. A cover sheet is typically also provided to further secure the planar articles to the page and prevent adjacent album pages from adhering to each other. While the use of an adhesive substance provides an acceptable short-term means of attaching photographs to a page, the properties of the adhesive material change over time. This often has a deleterious effect on the integrity of the planar article. For example, when a photograph is exposed to the adhesive substance for an extended period of time, the photo paper may begin to degrade and/or the emulsion chemistry of the photograph may begin to change, resulting in a permanent color change of the photograph. Furthermore, a photograph may become difficult or impossible to remove from the adhesive substance after long-term exposure.
Another means of mounting a planar article is by attaching to the album pages a plurality of triangular-shaped pockets to receive a corner of the planar article. These triangular-shaped pockets are commonly referred to as “photo corners.” Photo corners are an alternative to mounting planar objects with an adhesive substance, and the inherent drawbacks of using an adhesive substance are avoided. However, photo corners must be individually purchased and subsequently arranged on an album page to precisely align with the contours of the planar article. This approach is very time-consuming and subject to human error. Furthermore, if the photo corners are made of an opaque or translucent material, the portion of the planar object received by the photo corner will be obscured from view on the album page.
Album pages that include integrated transparent pockets to hold planar articles are also well known in the art. The transparent pockets are typically formed by sealing two sheets of flexible transparent material together at various locations to create pockets or by adhering two sheets of flexible transparent material at various locations to both sides of a piece of paper to create pockets. While the use of integrated transparent pockets to display planar articles avoids many of the drawbacks associated with mounting planar articles with an adhesive substance or with photo corners, the use of integrated transparent pockets also has drawbacks. For example, the pockets are typically formed on the album page to allow for only a particular size or orientation of planar article to be displayed on the page. This prevents a user from displaying planar articles of varying sizes and orientations on the same page. Furthermore, insertion of pictures into integrated transparent pockets can at times be difficult and time-consuming.
Thus, there is a need in the art for an album page assembly that avoids the drawbacks of the various approaches to mounting planar articles heretofore described.